Support attachment for flatirons



Bed. 11, 1928 1,694,688

J. PANDOLFO SUPPORT ATTACHMENT FOR FLATIRONS Filed Dec. 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 avwamto'c Dec, 11, 1928. 1,694,688

J. PANDOLFO SUPPORT ATTACHMENT FOR FLATIRONS Filed Dec. 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Swue/Moz I M 6 f- I Patented Dec. 11, 1928.

UNITED STA TES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH PANDOLFO, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ABSIGNOR OI ONE-THIRD TO [Ax D. OBDMANN, OF NEW YORK, N; Y.

SUPPORT ATTACHMENT FOB FLATIRONS.

Application filed December 8, 1924. Serial No. 753,028.

This application is an improvement over my earlier application Serial No. 701,693 filed March 25th, 1924.

This invention relates to irons such as are used when heated to smooth laundered articles such as woven textile fabrics, and more particularly to types in which an electric current is used as the heating medium, known generally as electric irons.

Due to the. degree of heat re iron to accomplish its purpose, t e iron must be kept in constant motion over the surface of the article undergoing the process of being ironed, or wholly removed therefrom during cessation of movement, else scorching of the fabric will ensue to the detriment of the article.

Commonly this is avoided by providing a holder or stand upon which the iron is temporarily placed, but such devices are inconvenient and occupy useful space, besides which there is no assurance that an operator will invariably make useof the same. v

It is therefore one of the main features of the present invention, that coincidentally with the release of the handle of the iron, automatically released supports drop below the iron so as to cause the iron to remain supported above the surface until the handle is again grasped.

Another object is to provide such self operating safety devices in the form of an attachment, that can be readily applied to an ordinary type of electric flat iron constructlon. A further aim' is to provide such supporting arrangement that will not be cumbersome in handling and so designed that it will not obstruct the operators View in front of the iron, and will allow free access to the pointof the iron, as may be desired in the process of operation.

Another object is to provide such an attachment that it will be positive in operation and possessing automatically operated looking features to prevent the collapse of the supporting arrangement when in supporting position, regardless of any pressure that may accidentally be applied to the handle in shifting the device and otherwise moving it about without actually lifting the iron from the ironing board.

A still further aim is to so design the several main parts, that they can be made of sheet metal by ordinary processes of die stamping and shapings assuring uniformity and even cost of production.

aired in the These and other purposes, such as simplic- 1ty of construction and operation, positiveness in effect and low cost of manufacture, are accomplished by the novel device hereinafter described and shown in the accompanymg drawmgs, constitutin an essential part of this disclosure, and in w ich F gure 1 is a partial side and longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the invention as applied to a conventional type of electric smoothing iron, the same being shown in a raised or supported position.

Figure 2- is a fragmentary rear end view of the same.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4; is a side elevational view of the iron, illustrating an important feature of this invention as hereinafter described.

Figure 5 is a similar View of the same in posit on for operation, the automatic supports being raised to full extent.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the front support lever in detail.

Fi re 7 is a similar view of the rear support ever.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the rectangular plates, which serve principally as looking elements.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the supporting levers and their connectlons.

By reference to the drawings, the numeral 15 deslgnates generically a conventional type of electric smoothing iron having an angular point 16 and heel 17 from the upper surface of which-extend the usual electric terminals 18, while in advance thereof, centrally of the iron, are spacers such as raised bosses 19 on which the handle is engaged.

In the present instance, the handle supplied with the iron is removed and another, made in accordance with the invention, is substituted. This handle is composed of'a plate 20, havmg lateral extensions 21 reaching past the sides of the iron and provided with downturned right angled flanges presenting front lobes 22 and corresponding rear lobes 23.

Extending from the front and rear edges of the plate 20 are relatively narrow supports 24 and 25 respectively, containing elongated slots 26 through which pass clamp screws 27 to enter screw threaded openings in the bosses 19, the slots permitting adjustment of the handle lengthwise of the iron and also providing for variations in the distance between in irons of different makes.

The supports 24 and 25 are bent angu' larly upward formin parallel members 28 and 29 and attached y screws or like fas tenings to the handle 30.

Said handle, which may be of wood, phenol condensation products or other heat resistin material, is substantially cylindrical, suited to be engaged by the hand, and provided with a longitudinal recess 31 in its upper part in which is pivoted a block or leaf 32 on the pin or screw 33, the outer exposed surface of this leaf conforming in contour to the handle 30.

A bent flat spring 34, fastened to the bottom of the recess 31, tends to maintain the leaf said bosses.

in a raised position as shown best in Figure 1.

Pivotally secured in the under side of the leaf 32 are a pair of fiat links 35, riveted as.

at- 36 and passing through an opening 37 in the handle adjacent the support 29; these links are bent outwardly, as at 38, and thus downwardly and towards the front, as at 39, where they are connected by screws 40 to openings 41 in rectangular plates 42 disposed at opposite sides of the iron for a purpose further on explained.

The front support lever consistsof a semielliptic strip 43 having a short straight trans verse connecting member 44 to which is fixed a contact 45, of heat resisting material, such as fiber, phenol condensation products or some other suitable substance, to engage a supporting surface.

The end portions of the lever are enlarged as at 46 and contain angular slots 47, their forward ends being hook-shaped as at 48 and in front of the slots are openings 49 to pivot on the shouldered portions of screw studs 50 fixed in the forward lobes 22.

The studs 50 also pass through slots 51 in the plates 42, these slots having right angled portions 52, plates 42 being shaped angularly as at 53 to fill the space between the plates 42 and the front support lever 43 as best seen in Figure 3, which also shows the parts slightly spaced from the flanged lobes of the plate 20.

The rear support lever is composed of two equal parallel arms 54 integrally joined by a right angled connection 55 arranged parallel to the heel 17 of the iron and provided with a pair of spaced contacts 56 similar to the contact 45, providing a three point bearing surface.

The forward portions of the arms 54 contain openings 57 through which pass pivot screws 58 threaded into the rear lobes 23, said lobes being extended to properly accommodate said arms with relation to the whole arrangement.

Rigidly fixed in the extremities of the arms 54 are headed pins 60, their inwardly extending ends movably engaging in the slots 47-48 of the front support lever, the headed ends of said pins also engaging openings 61 in the plates 42 as can best be seen in Figure 3.

In operation the iron being in a position of rest as shown in Figure 1, and it be desired to make use of it, in lifting the iron from the ironing board, the handle is grasped by the hand in the customary manner, thereby pressing the leaf 32 into the recess of the handle against the spring 34 and forcing the links 35 downward.

The lower ends of the links being connected by the screws 40 to the plates 42 at 41, first cause said plates to turn on the pins 60, the effect being to release the screw studs 50 from the angular ends 52 of the slots 51 in the plates as shown in Figure 9.

The pins 60 then begin to operate in the slots 47 of the lever arms 43, thus raising said lever arms, which are pivoting on the studs 50, the pins 60 eventually entering the hook extensions 48 of the slots, at which time the support will be raised to its utmost extent as shown in Figure 5.

As the pins 60 are also engaged with the rear support arms 54, said arms being pivoted at 58, it will be seen that as the links are pressed down, the arms 54 will also rise to an extent limited by the length of the hook slots 48 in the front support lever arms 43.

It is to be noticed that the front support is actuated to a greater extent than the rear support, as it isdesirable to clear the front part of the iron for unobstructed view and operation at the point. This feature is best illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 4 illustrates another important feature of this invention. In this position it will be noticed, that should the operator for any reason temporarily release the grasp on the handle, while the iron is in operation, the front support, due to its dependency upon the rear support, is prevented from falling in front of the iron upon the material being ironed, where due to the momentum behind it, said front support might otherwise cause damage to said material.

Upon cessation of operation, and it is desired to rest the iron upon its su ports, the iron is lifted temporarily from t e ironing board and the pressure upon the upper portion of the handle is released, thus permitting the leaf 32 to rise, both sets of supports turning upon their respective pivots 50 and 58 drop into their normal su porting position as in Figure 1 without ed'hrt on part of the operator.

As the studs 50 reenter the angular ends 52 of the slots 51 in the rectangular plates 42, the supporting levers 43 and 54 will be held fast and securely locked against accidental collapse thereby forming a strongly combined support for the body of the iron.

While the rectangular plates 42 are principally intended to serve as automatic locking means to retain said supports in supporting position, they also act in conjunction with the links, as means for simultaneously moving the front and rear supports into supporting or non-supporting position.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive and illustrative of the invention rather than restrictive, as the scope and tenor of the appended claims are sufficiently broad to permit variations and modifications thereunder.

Having thus described my invention and set forth the best known manner of its construction and application, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s:-

1. In a device of the character described, a body having a handle, a movable member carried by and normally impelled upwardly from said handle so as to be automatically actuated when said handle is grasped, means pivoted to said body. and serving to support the latter in front and at the rear at an elevation when not in use, a connection between said member and said supporting means to raise the latter into non-supporting position and a connection between said supporting means preventing the front supporting means from accidentally dropping below the body when said handle is released.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a body having a handle, of downwardly impelled members in front and at the rear thereof pivoted intermediate their ends to said body for supporting the latter when not in use at an elevation from the ironing surface, a movable member carried by said handle and operatively connected to the upper ends of said supporting members, said movable member being automatically actuated when the handle is grasped and adapted to swing said supporting members into non-supporting position and a movable connection between said front and rear supporting members whereby said front supporting member will be prevented from accidentally dropping onto the ironing surface when said handle is released.

3. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a body having a handle, of a pair of downwardly impelled supportmg members in front and rear of said body pivoted to the latter intermediate their ends for supporting said body when not in use at an elevation from the ironing surface, a movable member carried by said handle and automatically actuated when said handle is grasped, means operatively connecting said movable member with the upper ends of said supporting members so that when said movable member is actuated by the hand of the user said pair of supporting members will be simultaneously swung into nonsupporting position and means pivotally and slidably connecting said supporting members together so that the front supporting member will be prevented from accidentally dropping onto the ironing surface when said movable memher is released.

4. In a device of the character described the combination with a body having a handle, of downwardly extending members at the front and rear of said body and pivotally supported thereon intermediate their ends, one of the pivoted connections being also slidable on said body, an elongated member pivoted at one end in said handle, the upper ends of said supporting members being interengaged with one another and a link operatively connecting said pivoted member at its other end to said supporting members, so that upon the depression of said pivoted member said supporting member will be raised from supporting position and means for locking said supporting members in supporting posltlon.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a body having a handle, of a sprin actuated member pivoted in said handle and adapted to normally project outwardly therefrom so as to be actuated automatically when said handle is grasped, sup porting members pivoted to said body in front and rear thereof and whose upper ends are movably interen'gaged with one another, means operatively connecting said pivoted member to said supporting members between their pivots so that by the depression of said pivoted member said supporting members will be raised from the ironing surface, automatic means for preventing the front supporting member from dropping onto the ironing surface when the handle is released and automatic means for locking said supporting members in supporting position to hold said body at an elevation from the ironing surface.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

J OSEPII PANDOLFO; 

